Cartoonist Clifford Berryman’s proposal for improved government efficiency:
Untitled, 03/09/1916
This untitled illustration by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Evening Star on March 9, 1916, is a response to the proposal made by Representative William Patterson Borland of Missouri that an extra hour be added to the government work day. Here, Uncle Sam watches as government workers rush by below on their way to work wearing roller skates to ensure their early arrival and wondering why he had not thought of it.
(Thankfully never implemented. We can only imagine disaster would ensure in the Archives’ conservation labs…)
Next Week - Preservation EXPOsed at the National Archives!
National Archives Preservation Programs is hosting Preservation EXPOsed! on March 14th from 11 am to 2 pm in the McGowan Theater and Lobby at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Learn how to care for your personal treasures at the preservation fair, hear lectures on preservation projects at the National Archives, and bring in a document, book, photo, artifact, or motion picture film for a consultation with a conservator. The event is free and open to the public. Appointments are required for individual consultations; contact Preservation@nara.gov or Preservation Programs Officer Allison Olson at 301-837-0678 to schedule one. Attendees can enter at the Special Events Entrance of Archives I on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Street NW.
Let Congress Take Warning, 03/06/1909
The Inauguration Day of William Howard Taft was one of the worst Inauguration days ever due to rain, snow, sleet, slush, and chilling winds. In the cartoon, telegraph lines are shown falling over because of the strong winds and snow. Uncle Sam is bundled in winter gear while holding a resolution to change the date of Inauguration Day and telling Congress that they shouldn’t let the same thing happen again. Because of the bad weather, there was much support in changing Inauguration Day to April 30, which is when George Washington was inaugurated. The resolution was not successful until 1933 though, when Inauguration Day was changed to January 20.
Suffrage and suffering at the “Women’s Suffrage Parade” in Washington DC, March 3, 1913:
One hundred years ago on March 3, supporters of woman suffrage marched through Washington, DC. Held the day before Woodrow Wilson’s presidential inauguration, the parade was preceded by a series of “suffrage hikes” in New York and elsewhere intended to bring attention to the lack of voting rights for women. However, the marchers were met by crowds of unruly men. The police did nothing, and the treatment of the women by the crowds caused an outcry.
The women testified about their experiences—some noted the lack of police or their indifference and applauded the Boy Scouts for being more effective than the police. Others described drunken men along the parade route hooting and jeering at them, blocking their path, and making insulting remarks (one young girl was called a “Georgia Peach”—an indignity at the time).
A resolution from the Men’s League for Woman Suffrage in King’s County noted that the women in the parade, “many of whom were among the finest intellectual leaders of their sex, were … subject to insult, ribaldry, and personal abuse.”
The day after the parade, the Senate passed a resolution authorizing the Committee on the District of Columbia to investigate the handling of the incident by the police.
This photograph of the parade comes from that investigation:
“Exhibit 36, View of the Woman Suffrage Parade from the Willard Hotel, Washington DC, from the Hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee of the District of Columbia of the United States Senate, pursuant to S. Res 499, March 4, 1913, 63rd Congress (Y4.D63/2:W84); RG 287, National Archives”
Read the full story of the parade and the hearing at Prologue: Pieces of History » Suffrage and suffering at the 1913 March
As 2013 marks the 100th anniversary of this watershed event, be sure to watch for more #Suffrage13 features from the National Archives, including:
Our new banners are up on the Constitution Ave side of the National Archives Building! “Searching for the Seventies: The DOCUMERICA Project” opens on March 8.
Take a sneak peek on today’s The Big Picture.
“This temple of our history will appropriately be one of the most beautiful buildings in America, an expression of the American soul.”
— Herbert Hoover, February 20, 1933, at the laying of the cornerstone of the National Archives Building. (Photo: 64-NA-136)
via Prologue: Our Story — How the National Archives Evolved Over 75 Years
“…when the attack was made on the City of Washington and on the City of Baltimore, the citizen soldiers were in service without pay or rations, several months in each of the years 1812-1813 and 1814. And it is for the consideration of those service that your memorialists think they are entitled to 160 acres of Land each.”
Memorial of the “Association of Defenders of Baltimore in 1814” for a grant of 160 acres per man as remuneration for services in the war, 02/17/1853
Jimmy Started Something New
In 1977, Jimmy Carter started a tradition that has now become one of the most anticipated events on Inauguration Day.
While in the motorcade of the Inaugural Parade, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter exited their car to walk the route to the White House.
Only the Secret Service had been notified of Carter’s decision to break with tradition, and at first, parade viewers thought the car had broken down.
Nine-year-old Amy Carter joined her parents for part of the parade route, jumping and skipping along Pennsylvania Avenue in her excitement.
-from the Carter Library
Inauguration Fact: The Constitution does not dictate where the inauguration should happen.
Washington’s first inauguration took place in New York on a second-floor balcony of Federal Hall, with a crowd assembled in the streets below. Washington’s second inauguration and John Adams’s only inauguration were held in Philadelphia.
Even when the ceremony was held in the new capital city, the location still varied. Jefferson, the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, DC, took the oath twice in the Senate Chamber of the Capitol.
Starting with Andrew Jackson in 1829, inauguration ceremonies were held on the Capitol’s East Portico, but even that was not permanent. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fourth and final inauguration was a small, wartime ceremony held on the South Portico of the White House.
In 1981, Ronald Reagan became the first President to to take the oath of office on the West Portico of the Capitol, facing out onto the Mall.
Image Lyndon Johnson takes the Oath of Office as President of the United States on January 20, 1965, Johnson Presidential Library.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower is lassoed by cowboy star Montie Montana (with permission from the Secret Service) while reviewing the inaugural parade as Vice President Richard M. Nixon and other dignitaries look on on January 20, 1953.
Originally, the parade was meant to escort the President to the White House from the Capitol, but it soon developed into something more. Jefferson began the tradition of the open house. Americans could come directly into the White House and congratulate the President. Over time, the crowds became so enormous that President Jackson fled the crush through an open window.
By the time Grover Cleveland took office, the number of inaugural visitors was too large to manage, and so Cleveland had parade stands set up outside, where he could review the troops. Over time, this the review came to include floats and other civilian contributions. For Clinton’s second inauguration, the parade featured floats, choirs, and marching bands from all 50 states.
The Inauguration of George H.W. BushInaugural float containing replicas of the USS San Jacinto and the TBM Avenger flown by President Bush when he was in the Navy. 1/20/89.
-from the Bush Library
Practice Makes Perfect
Military personnel act as stand-ins for President-elect George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush, Vice President-elect J. Danforth Quayle and Marilyn Quayle during a rehearsal prior to the Inauguration Day ceremonies of the 41st president of the United States, 01/15/1989
Photograph of President Truman with Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes and others, standing inside the Jefferson Memorial looking up at a statue of Thomas Jefferson., 01/14/1946
Some highlights from our commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamation’s 150th anniversary:
On New Year’s Eve, over 4,000 people saw this important document. Then, on January 1, 2013, the National Archives celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation with special guests, songs, and a stamp.
If you didn’t see it this time, stay tuned. Although its display time is limited each year, the document does travel to other venues, and it will be on display here again.
You can learn more about the Emancipation Proclamation and related documents in our free eBook, available to download for iPad, iPad, Android, and other eReaders: http://www.archives.gov/publications/ebooks/
It’s excited to see the long line of people outside the National Archives waiting to see the Emancipation Proclamation on its 150th anniversary! Hopefully the line is moving quickly now.
Have you see the Emancipation Proclamation in person?
As part of the 150th commemoration, there are extended viewing hours until 1 am on New Years Eve!
